The best baseball players born on June 27
Who are the best players born on each day of the year? We have a list for every day on the calendar.
Here’s a subjective ranking of the top five for June 27.
1) Jim Edmonds (1970)
In Edmonds' 17-year career, he had a 60.4 bWAR, four All-Star appearances, a .284 batting average, a .903 OPS and 393 homers with 1,199 RBIs. Edmonds made stops at six organizations (Angels, Cardinals, Cubs, Padres, Reds and Brewers) during his tenure and his highlight-reel-worthy plays in center field helped him rack up eight Gold Gloves. He finished his career with Cincinnati in 2010.
2) Rico Petrocelli (1943)
Petrocelli spent his entire 13-year career with the Red Sox from 1963-76, finishing with a .251 average and a .752 OPS. He earned two All-Star appearances and although he never had the flashiest numbers, he accumulated 39.1 bWAR -- the second most for all players born on June 27.
3) Yordan Alvarez (1997)
He hasn’t had much time in the big leagues just yet, but Alvarez has already shown enough to earn his way near the top of this list. His Rookie of the Year campaign in 2019 was stellar, hitting .313 with a 1.067 OPS, 27 homers, 78 RBIs and 26 doubles in just 87 games. After missing nearly all of the 2020 season due to injury, he came back for his first full big league season in ’21, owning a .277 average with an .877 OPS, 33 homers, 35 doubles and 104 RBIs in 144 games. He has since been named ALCS MVP (2021) and an All-Star (2022, '23), and his postseason heroics have included 12 homers in 58 playoff games.
4) Jeff Conine (1966)
“Mr. Marlin” spent eight of his 17 big league seasons with Florida between two stints from 1993-97 and 2003-05. In his rookie season in ’93, he played all 162 games, hitting .292 with a .754 OPS, earning him a third-place finish in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. He was a member of the Marlins’ 1997 championship team before a 4 1/2-year stop in Baltimore prior to his return to Florida. He also spent time with the Royals, Reds, Phillies and Mets -- whom he ended his career with in 2007.
5) Rube Benton (1890)
Benton’s 15-year career was split between two teams -- nine seasons with Cincinnati and seven with the New York Giants. In 1912, Benton led the league with both 50 appearances and 39 games started, tossing a whopping 302 innings with a 3.10 ERA. His career came to a close in 1925, ending his time with a 3.09 ERA, a 1.265 WHIP, 950 strikeouts and 21 saves.
Others of note:
Eddie Kasko (1931)
He spent 29 seasons in the Red Sox organization as a player (1966), Minor League manager (1967-69), Major League manager (1970-73), scout (1974-77) and executive (1978-94), and was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2010. A former infielder, his 10-year Major League playing career included two All-Star selections with the Reds.
Jim Johnson (1983)
Johnson spent 13 years in the Majors, pitching to a 3.79 ERA with 178 saves, including two seasons (2012-13) in which he reached 50 saves and led the Majors. He made stops in Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland, Atlanta, Los Angeles (Dodgers) and Anaheim.
Want to see more baseball birthdays for June 27? Find the complete list on Baseball Reference.